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Reserve Bank deputy governor Dr Kupukile Mlambo addresses delegates at a breakfast meeting with the Botswana Chamber of Mines at a Bulawayo hotel yesterday. — Picture by Eliah Saushoma

Oliver Kazunga Senior,  Business Reporter
THE Botswana Chamber of Mines (BMC) is seeking strategic partnerships with Zimbabwean companies to exploit growing opportunities in the mining industry.

Speaking during a breakfast meeting organised by the Engineering, Iron and Steel Association of Zimbabwe (EISAZ) in Bulawayo yesterday, BMC projects manager Mr Joe Ramotshabi said strategic partnerships between companies from the two countries should result in win-win situations.

“What we are looking for as BCM and the mining sector are strategic partners. We work with suppliers currently, but we are looking for strategic partners to work with and not suppliers,” he said.

“Strategic partners that we are looking for are companies that can set up operations in Botswana and get the involvement of mining companies there in terms of guiding them and the specific features, qualities and specifications and other things like that.”

Mr Ramotshabi said ideal partnerships should foster openness and information sharing.

“If you know you have a cash flow problem, maybe you are going to have a cash flow problem in the next two or three months, you actually tell the mine that I have a cash flow problem. Either they advance you or help you to find financing such that the problem is sorted,” he said.

Mr Ramotshabi said the Botswana mining sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product was envisaged to grow by seven percent to 55 percent in the next few years. He noted that while Zimbabwe has technical expertise in various disciplines, Botswana has the financial muscle, which presents opportunities for strategic collaborations.

“Zimbabwe has very strong technical and skilled people. In Botswana we don’t have those yet but an average person has funds to invest. Our understanding about Zimbabwe, the perception, is that the dollar is not there and therefore we are saying we have got the purse and thus there is an opportunity to team up. There are also Botswana enterprises that are keen to invest in Zimbabwe,” said Mr Ramotshabi.

In a speech read on his behalf by his deputy, Mr Beki Mangena, EISAZ president Mr Austin Tigere assured BMC that Zimbabwean engineering firms have enough capacity to supply the Botswana mining industry with engineering spares and equipment.

“The abundance of iron ore and related raw materials locally, combined with highly skilled manpower, will go a long way in ensuring that the engineering needs of the local and regional markets are met.

“EISAZ has demonstrated ability in producing new, innovative products that can be exported anywhere in the world,” he said.

Speaking at the same occasion, EISAZ western region chairperson, Mr Ticharwa Garabga, said the engineering, iron and steel industry was a key cog in the manufacturing industry as the robust architecture of the modern industrial world is made of steel.

“The quality and quantity of the iron and steel industry of a country greatly influences the nature, type and pace of industrial development, as well as the way of life in a modern economy.

“In Zimbabwe, the construction industry consumes 70 percent output from the engineering industry, with the manufacturing industry taking up 20 percent, mining six percent and agriculture consuming four percent,” he said.

In a national study report produced by the Zimbabwe Economic Policy Analysis and Research Unit in 2014, the country’s engineering, iron and steel sector has the potential to generate $14 billion in revenue to the economy. — @okazunga